Friend or Foe?
by RachMorgan
Summary: A 14-year-old shapeshifter named Rachelle pronounced Rachel is sent on a mission to find Cameron Morgan, not knowing why she's sent or who sent her. She can't even trust herself, whether she was meant to be a friend or foe to Cameron. Disclaimer: Ally Carter owns all Gallagher Girls characters, I own Rachelle and some other shifters and people she knows. My first fanfictio
1. Chapter 1

I let out a piercing shriek as I started into a dive, the wind whipping against me. As I was nearing the ground at almost 170 miles per hour, almost my fastest yet, I snapped out my wings and pulled up out of the dive, my human mind screaming "_That was freaking awesome!" _while my peregrine's was just normal about it. After all, this is what falcons do. Every adrenaline junkie would probably pay thousands to be able to experience this. _No time to waste, Rachelle, _I silently chastised myself and went back on my way.

I reached Washington D.C., watching my shadow pass over the pavement and people's heads. I landed on the top of the Washington Monument for a few minutes, resting, before I went to the east, looking for a secluded spot on the beach where I could shift into a water animal form. _Something that's a top predator, and travels quickly_, I thought as I shifted back to my human form. If I stayed in a form for a while, some features of the animal stayed with me for a bit. I could feel the peregrine feathers on the nape of my neck now, but they were slowly starting to disappear.

Soon I decided on a sailfish. It would make my travel fast, as long as I away from fishing boats. I walked out in the water until I could barely feel the ground, then started to shift smoothly. It still felt a bit strange, like a tingly feeling was passing over me. I felt the blue and silver scales ripple out across my arms, and the sail spread up from my back. The change was complete now. As I glided to the water, I spotted other sailfish. I hunted with the other sailfish for a bit, surprisingly successful for me. I'm still not as used to this shape. _Sardines actually _are_ pretty good raw, _I though wryly. My human brain mentally gagged, so I pushed away the thought and only listened to the sailfish's mind.

A few hours later, I stopped at an archipelago in the middle of the ocean. I swam to the largest one, called Great Bermuda Island, according to the sign. _Great. At least I know where I am now._ Ishifted as I stepped out of the water, shimmering slightly until all the scales disappeared back into skin. Except for some that stayed at the top my neck, covered by my hair. At least they wouldn't show, they'll be gone in a while. I dried off quickly and ran my fingers through my black hair, which used to be glossy, straight and long. Now it was tangled, unevenly cut to my shoulder, my side bangs now long and tucked behind one ear. Smoothing down the spikes with some water, I looked at my clothes. They were a bit ragged and torn.

I walked to the nearest town, ignoring the pain in my foot when I stepped on a jagged rock. Until I noticed it was bleeding a lot. I sighed to myself. I saw a small clinic, and walked in, putting on my best grimace and limping. It was hard for me to do that much, I usually act impassive no matter how much pain. I'm used to it from being animals that can take a lot of pain. When a nurse saw me walk in, the girl that looked like she had been through hell and back, all dirty and in "pain", she rushed over to me putting her arm around me and asking me, "Oh my goodness, girl, what happened to you?" I could hardly be called a girl, being almost 15, but I just winced and replied, putting as much pain and exhaustion in my voice, "I... don't know... I don't really remember..."

She hurried me over to a room, saying, "Do you have any family here? Anyone you know?" as I sat down on the little bed. She cleaned my foot and wrapped it up while I lied, "I was with my friend's family... but I lost them when we were diving. I looked everywhere for them, but I just can't find them." She sighed and said, "Well, you can stay at the little inn down the road, I'll get you a room, and then we can find your friend." "Okay," I replied. Darn, now I was going to have to stay here for a night, and I'm still supposed to be _there_ by tomorrow or early the day after. I smiled thankfully to the nurse and nodded, saying, "Thank you so so much. I don't know where I'd be now without your help." LIE. She just smiled kindly in return, and I could see the kindness in her eyes, and a pang of guilt hit me. I didn't want to have to lie to her. Oh well. What must be done must be done. It's not like I could tell her the truth anyways.

She took her break to walk me over to the inn, paying the money needed for it and handing me the key. "Tomorrow you can go find your friend. For now, rest." "Thanks again, ma'am!" I called as she left, and went up to my room. I was relieved when I saw it had a window, but first quickly took a shower and got the money I had carefully sewn into the hem of my pants in case of times like this. At least I hadn't lost that. I went to the shop, bought some clean clothes, just a plain small t-shirt that said: _Swimming with the Dolphins_ and had a diver with a pod of dolphins, and some denim booty shorts. They were the best clothes I could find for shifting, so I paid for them and left.

When I was back in my room, I changed, threw away my old clothes, and opened the window. I shifted into a seagull, white and black feathers spreading across my arms, and flew out the window. I never really had much respect for seagulls before, when I used to live on a boat me and my dad called them air-rats because they would eat anything they find. Now I'm actually like them a bit. I let out a caw and continued flying east.

I was gliding on a nice draft and tried to remember why I'm so determined to get to this place. I still don't know completely, but after a strange dream, one name keeps repeating in my head. _Cameron Morgan. _

**A/N: Sorry it might start out a bit boring, but this is my first fanfiction and the next chapter will be more exciting. Read and Review! :D**

**Special thanks to Bookworm 607 for her support!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the long update. This chapter might not be very good, but I'm just getting the feel of it. And sorry if I get any information wrong in here. :)**

I froze as I felt a hand on my shoulder and a deep voice said, "A young lady like you shouldn't be walking these roads alone. The wolves might get ya." He seemed as if he was in his late twenties. "There's barely any wolves in Switzerland," I replied. _Definitely not a farmer to think that there would be so many wolves here._ I had done a little asking to make sure that when I shifted into my wolf form, I wouldn't run into any. I should have known that there weren't many wolves here at all due to hunting. I turned around slowly to look at the man. I recognized him, the last time I had seen him he had been a jogger, a baker at one of the stores, and then a biker. He was following me, but why? Nobody I know would follow me. "Who are you?" I asked.

"You need to know something important," he said quietly and quickly, ignoring my previous question. He seemed a bit panicked and out of breath, as if somebody had been chasing him. "Huh?" I said dumbly. "They're trying to kill me, and they'll come after you too," he whisper-said. I wrenched my shoulder from his grasp and stared at him, trying to understand if he was telling the truth or was just a psychopath. He was actually kind of cute, if he hadn't looked like he had been through hell and back. _Seriously, now is _not _the time,_ I thought. "I don't even know you!" I exclaimed. "How do I know you're not just some psychopath?" He sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and said, "I don't have much time. Whether you believe me or not, you must find and protect her. She's at- " He broke of when he saw five burly men in black surrounding us. He quickly grabbed me by both shoulders. "Go! They must not get you. The convent in the Alps! You're our last hope!" He shoved me away yelling, "Run!" It went against every instinct to abandon him, but I turned, shot him one last look, and ran, looking over my shoulder once in time to see him incapacitate one man before the remaining three blocked him from my view. Then there was a bang and and through the gaps between their legs I saw a body fall to the ground. I immediately turned my head away, silent tears streaming down my face as I kept on running. _They killed him. They killed him. They killed him._

I padded silently through the snowy woods, my breath steaming out into the air in front of me. I was at a pretty high altitude, and it would take me about an hour to reach the convent. I had gotten directions from a kind nun. Suddenly a different scent hit me, it was the smell of a wolf. I had learned that there are about 12 wolves in Switzerland, but wasn't sure whether they had formed a pack yet. The other wolf howled, saying where he was, and I howled back. I could tell this wasn't any wolves' territory yet, so I was safe to approach him. I made my body signs clear that I didn't want to fight. _Of course, I just _had _to run into another wolf._ Two more wolves padded out from the forest, two more males. _Make that three wolves out of twelve in the country._ My luck was just getting worse. Now it would take me much longer to reach the convent, and what if those bad guys got there first? The scene of the man's body falling to the ground suddenly played in my mind, and I shook it away. The three wolves sniffed at me, but at least they didn't smell the human, I had rolled around in dirt and snow before. And I could also talk to the wolves. In body language, of course. They were the first wolves in the pack, so I guess it was just forming. And just my luck, they wanted me to join. But I didn't know what would happen if I said no. But no real wolf would ever say no. I could feel the wolf mind wanting to join. So if- no, _when_ I did, I would battle it out for alpha. I'd have an advantage because I could think through it differently. So yeah, I joined the pack, and then there was a lot of sniffing. I was mostly uncomfortable with the butt-sniffing, but I lived through it. Yay. Now I'm in a wolf pack. What the hell am I going to do?

The fact hit me, that I'd have to shift back into my human form every once in a while so I wouldn't go rogue. That's when a shifter stays in a form too long and the animal mind takes over, and then you can't find your human form again. So you're permanently animal. It hit me right before I challenged the alpha. But he was prepared for this, so let's just say I was thinking, _At least my wolf form is big._ So I just let my wolf mind take over. Not completely, though. I let him attack first, jaws snapping for my neck, but I dodged it. Now my human and wolf mind would have to work together, so that when one couldn't respond, the other did. It was a great advantage, and the next time he lunged for me I rolled to knock his feet out. It wasn't much, but enough to surprise him, since he didn't know how that happened. I bared my teeth and tried to get him but he snapped up, I dodged, and then it was a flurry of snapping, scratching, and lunging. I could barely keep up with it, but I just responded instinctively, and then in one second that I had a window, I jumped, knocking him on his side as I attempted to pin him down while he snapped at my ear, but I put my jaws over his neck, not hard enough to pierce the skin but firmly enough to show him I was boss. He whined in submission and gave up. As I straightened myself back up I looked around, and the other two wolves came over and I put my jaws around theirs as an act of dominance. I almost can't believe it. I'm the freakin' _alpha_ of a wolf pack!

I led my pack with me on the way to the convent. During the whole pack-related things I had lost thirty minutes, and had to make up for it. We could find some territory for the wolves here too. I didn't know how to get away though, and I knew that I definately could not stay in the pack if I needed to stay with Cameron. We were almost to the convent when I smelled humans. I stayed behind the cover of the forest and saw them. The men who attacked us. Without thinking I signaled to the wolves, and we fanned out, surrounding them. Since they had guns, we would have to attack quickly. They would hopefully be more slowed down by their heavy jackets and gear. Quietly advancing on them, I gave the signal and we started running, jumping and attacking them. I brought down one quickly and went for the other. Unfortunately, he'd had enough time to get his knife out. I thought of how many others he might have killed, and darted forward quickly, another wolf attacking from the side. He slashed forward with his knife and I was fast enough to avoid it, but he stabbed from the side I'd jumped to and a gash was opening from my left hip to my right shoulder. I bit his leg and ripped my head side to side savagely, hearing his scream, and the other wolves jumped in, and killed him. The wolf I'd previously fought wanted to be alpha, and since he knew I was going to die soon, decided he wouldn't waste a fight with me. At least we were really close to the convent.

The pain from the knife wound surged through me like a wave as I used my remaining energy to shift into my human form. The wolves had gone, with their new alpha. _That's one way to get rid of them._ Though not one I would prefer if it means going through pain like this. On the verge of passing out, with the pain and the cold hitting me, I dragged myself to the door of the convent, out of the trees and past the river. Stumbling up the slope, I was barely able to make it to the door and feebly knock once, though I doubt anybody heard it. The last thing I saw before I spiraled into unconsciousness was a nun's surprised face when the door was opened.

**A/N: Like I said earlier, I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet. When I get on a roll, the writing's better. And Cammie will come in in the next chapter, if you were wondering.**


	3. Chapter 3

My eyelids flew open and I gasped, waking up from a dream that seemed to real to be fake. I sat up suddenly, trying to make sense of my surroundings- then laid back down just as quickly when a wave of pain surged through me, most of it coming from my back. I looked down and instead of seeing my shirt, there was gauze wrapped all the way around my torso. Then it all came back to me. The wolves, the fight- that means that I really _had_ killed those men. And then that name. Cameron Morgan.

A nun had caught sight of me waking up and hurried over. "Don't move anymore," she said. "Is Cameron… here?" I asked softly. "There is another girl here, but we think her name is Gillian, not Cameron." The nurse looked at me strangely. I asked, "What is it?" She just shook her head and said, "It is just weird for two foreign girls to come here half dead in such a short time span." I was a bit confused. "How long have I been here?"

"Only a day. But you're not well enough to walk, much less stand. You'll have to stay here for about a week to heal up," she said.

"But- I can't stay here that long! They'll find her and kill her!" I panicked. The yelled at myself mentally. _Dang it Rachelle, you just told that to a freaking nun!_

"What are you talking about?" the nun looked worried. She called over another nun, and told her quietly so that I couldn't hear, "I think she might also have some head trauma, she's been saying crazy things." Of course, I could hear that since even though I was in my human form, my senses were a bit sharper than a normal human's. Without thinking, I said a bit loudly, "I don't have head trauma! I need to find her! I can't stay for a week!" The other nurse put her hand over my forehead and said, "I think she has a fever. You must rest now." I protested, saying, in my rising hysteria, "I'm not sick! I have to find Cameron!" Well, let's just say that I went a bit crazy, yelled a few things that should never ever be said to a nun, and had to be drugged.

As I faded into darkness once again, I murmured, "Must... find... Cameron..."

When I woke up again, with my memory intact with everything that recently happened, I tried to stumble out of the cot again. There was still a searing pain from my back, but I just gritted my teeth and tried, but failed, to ignore it. I inhaled deeply and tried to walk slowly, using the edge of the cot as a handhold. There wasn't anyone around, so I just exited the room silently and walked through the only hallways that were empty, avoiding any nuns. I was still a bit too weak to shift, so I just stumbled around, looking for Cameron if she was there. Since I was out for a while, there would have been plenty of time for the bad people's boss to find out that they were dead and send more people for her. I guess I was her 14-year old bodyguard.

I looked in pretty much every room, with no luck, until I ran into a girl who seemed only a few years older than me with strawberry-blonde hair. She seemed about the right age, so I asked, "Cameron?" The othe girl seemed a bit confused but said, "No, but there is a Cameron here. She woke up a while ago, but you seem in much worse shape than her. You should be resting right now."

"I can't rest, I have to see her. Please," I pleaded. I guess I looked desperate enough so she said, "Well, I guess I can take you to her, but you cannot talk very long, I'm afraid."

"Thank you so much. I've been looking for her everywhere, and I really need to find her." I guess it was the kind look on her face, or that she looked like an angel, that made me tell her that. Even though of course it would make her ask, "Why?" I was quiet for a while as we walked in the empty hallway until I said, "I can't really say why." She didn't ask about it anymore, instead just changed the topic. "So two American girls here in less than a week. You came here in much worse shape than Cameron, I know because I had to bandage you up." She gestured to my back. "The wound looked like it was from a knife, and you lost a lot of blood. You must heal a lot faster though, because you had been asleep for only three days while she had been asleep for six." I didn't say it was because I naturally healed a lot faster than humans, because I wasn't exactly _human._ We reached the door of Cameron's room and the other girl who had introduced herself as Mary knocked. "Cameron... there is someone here to see you." "Come in!" she called.

I hesitantly stepped into the room, and Cameron seemed a bit surprised at my condition. I was like a half-mummy. Bandages on my head, torso, arm... I walked to stand against the wall of her small room, but she gestured to the chair by her bed and said, "You should sit." So I slowly walked over and sat, pain lashing out at me when my back arched. I heard a small pop and immediately straightened my back again, so I would open the healing wound. "Are you Cameron Morgan?" I asked.

"Yes, call me Cammie. But who are you? How do you know who I am?" she asked cautiously, suspisciously.

"I was sent to find you. I had to stop these other evil people or whatever from getting to you first." She seemed a bit skeptical at how a 14-year old could stop them.

"How did you stop them?" she asked a bit hesitantly.

"I killed them." It was so silent I was expecting the crickets to start chirping outside. Even though there was none.

"But... how? I mean, you, weaponless, against the Circle of Cavan?" The name hit me like a 40-ton wave.

"That was the... Circle?" I choked out. No... now that they know that I'm alive to them, they'll come to kill me again. Just like they killed _him._

Cammie looked at me strangely, but nodded. "But you still gotta tell me how. You against them?"

"You don't wanna know how. You seriously don't wanna know. Maybe eventually I'll tell you, or you'll see for yourself sometime. But please, not now." She nodded again, slowly and carefully. "I guess I'll have to trust you, but you'll have to go to Gallagher with me. When you're there, we can find out if we all can trust you completely." I nodded at that. "Fine with me. And I think you probably already called them?"

"Yep," she confirmed. "All righty then, I guess we'll just wait now."

I was outside with Cammie and Mary when the helicopter arrived, and began it's descent. Once Cammie's mom was out of the helicopter, she ran towards Cammie, hugging her to death. I never had anyone, not even someone as close as a mother to me. I couldn't. I was silently staring out at the forest below, wondering where those wolves were now, when Cammie said, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess. Just thinking." Cammie gave me a look and then introduced me to her mom. "Mom, this is..." she faltered, since I had never given her my name. "Rachelle," I filled in. "Pronounced like Rachel but with an l and an e at the end."

"And this is my mom, Rachel Morgan," Cammie finished. I grinned to myself at the coincidence of names but it vanished quickly when her mom said, "And what is she doing here?" looking at me untrustingly. "She saved me from the Circle while I was asleep. And she has the wounds to prove it," Cammie said, gesturing to my bandages. Her mom also looked a bit skeptical at that, but let her daughter finish. "And we'll have to take her to Gallagher, of course. And test her to see whether she's to help or not."

"And, of course, we'll have to run some tests on _you_, Cammie," her mom added. After a momentary silence that felt like forever, we all piled in the helicopter and started on our way to the Gallagher Academy.

**A/N: So I'm gonna include a few parts in my story from Out of Sight, Out of Time, but change them up so Rachelle is a big part of it. She is one of the main characters, after all. And I don't own the series. Ally Carter does. **


	4. Chapter 4 Part 1

Nine hours later, the helicopter landed near the P&E barn of Gallagher Academy. Girls crowded around, and Rachel Morgan stepped out of the helicopter. After saying something that I was too tired to hear, Cammie stepped out and three girls ran up and hugged her tightly. Only one girl didn't look excited to see her. I just silently stepped out, asked Ms. Morgan where I should go for now. "Just meet me in my office in a couple minutes." I nodded and tried to slip away through the crowd, hoping that their excitement that Cammie was back would keep me from being noticed. Well, the key word being _tried_, I was just diving into the mass of girls until somebody saw me. Tina Walters (even though I didn't know it was her at that time) asked loudly, "Hey, who are you?"

I stopped and casually turned around. Some of the other girls were starting to become interested in the other new person in their midst. "Just a friend of Cammie," I said easily. "What happened to you?" a younger girl asked. I guess she was just in seventh grade. "I was attacked by a bear. When I was in Canada." I guess my lie sounded believable, and the other girls turned their attention back to Cammie when a voice said, "Girls, I think that you should ask Cammie the questions." I turned my head in the direction of the sound and saw an unfamiliar woman, who had been hugging Cammie before. "So what _are_ you doing here?" she asked. "By the way, I'm Abby." She extended her hand and I shook it firmly. I know at least that a handshake can make a good impression on someone. "I'm Rachelle," I said, my green eyes reflecting hers. "Maybe I should answer that in the headmistress' office," I added, and she nodded her head. "Well, I think that we should head there now then. Cammie and Rachelle are too."

When we made it to the office, with Headmistress Morgan, Abby, Cammie, some other teachers, and myself gathering inside, Cammie's mom said to me, "Rachelle, maybe you could wait outside? Someone can show you around, or you can explore. I'll send someone to get you later." They still weren't sure they could trust me. So I nodded and quietly left the room, looking aroundin the hall at the sword and the large tapestry that hung from the wall. If I was going to want to be able to shift soon, I had to get these bandages off, but should check with a nurse first. Seeing a girl walking through the hall, I quickly asked her, "Do you know where the nurse is?" and she pointed, saying, "The infirmary is right around there." I quickly thanked her and headed that way.

I was sitting on a cot while the nurse examined me, and she seemed impassive as she noted my wounds. "It'll be fine to take off the bandages on your head and arm, but I'm going to have to treat your back first. They must not have had the best equipment where you were treated." I nodded, and winced slightly as the nurse slowly unwrapped the bandages over my back. "It hasn't started to scab over yet, which is good because it needs to be stitched up. She put some rubbing alcohol over the gash and I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to scream. It felt like liquid fire pouring over my back. "This is a bad knife wound..." she noted, and went on to muttering, "Kids today... so uncareful... need to be more careful..." She gave me a painkiller, then went on to stitch it. "Come back in a week and I'll check on how it's healing. It might scar though, unless Dr. Fibbs has something to keep it from scarring. Well, you're free to go now." I thanked her and left quickly, then wandered the Great Hall again.

Something about the tapestry caught my eye. The space behind it looked disturbed, as if somebody went behind the tapestry a lot. My curiosity getting the better of me, I walked behind it, a tiny bit disappointe when I didn't find anything. Something in me told me to keep looking, so when I did, I found a tiny sword painted on the wall. I messed around with it, thinking someone had just randomly painted it there for no reason, but when I pushed it in the stones rolled away, leading to a tunnel. _Whoa._ I couldn't help it, I gaped. _This school is getting better by the minute._ Stepping into the passageway, I looked back at the stones that had started to cover the entrance. _I wonder where it leads to. Wouldn't wanna get trapped in here._ I walked deeper inside, until after a few turns the passageway opened out into a room. I walked inside, and saw a bed with a man laying in it, who looked to be deep asleep. He was hooked up to a few machines. _Why would an injured man be hidden in a secret room?_ Anyways, I knew I wasn't supposed to be here. But before I turned to leave, I took a closer look at the man's face and gasped. I recognized him. "Joe?" I wondered.

"You shouldn't be here," a stern voice said behind me. It sounded like an old memory that washed up, but I just couldn't place it. I turned around. And gasped again, shock filling my face. "Z-zach?" I choked out. "Who are you?" he demanded. Of course he didn't recognize me. After I left, I'd had to change. My current human form was one I had adopted, from a friend I had tried to save and whose family showed me hospitality while I was hiding. A snake shapeshifter's. I tried to remember hard who I had been before, but it hadn't come back to me. Seeing Zach, though, all my memory's washed back over me. My real shape, before I had to change, was shorter, with black hair turned brown from the sun, and brown eyes that always glinted with some expression. Unless I hid it, which I had been trained to do. My green eyes, that sometimes turned the deadly garnet of a cobra's, turned brown. My glossy black hair was now sun-browned and longer, reaching the bottom of my shoulder blades. And I was now 6'1" instead of 6' 5". Zach gaped while my form shifted, but when he immediately recognized me, his face filled with shock too, not bothering to hide his expression with me. "Rachelle?" he whispered, and I nodded, my eyes watering with joy.

I ran to hug him and he took a step forward, his arms wrapped tightly around me. I rested my head against him and we hugged each other tightly, as if he was afraid to lose me again if we let go. "I thought you were dead," he murmured. "Me too."

**A/N: Yay! Zach reunited with not one, but two people! I'm sure you'll want to figure out what their connection is! And also since this chapter is really short, this'll be part 1. Next up, part 2!**


	5. Chapter 4 Part 2

"Um… what's going on here?" Cammie asked when she walked in on our hug-fest. She gave us both a wierd look. I hope she didn't think that Zach and I were… _that_ kind of close. Ugh. "I found out I'm not dead," I said quietly, my voice thick from tears of joy. It was like finally finding him brought back a piece of my heart. I missed him a lot. "I'm sure you aren't…" Cammie said, a bit confused.. She looked between the two of us, and now it was just starting to get awkward, so Zach and I let go of each other. "Well, um, she, um… Argh, I don't know how to put it," Zach said. He took a deep breath and now he was back to the Zach who didn't let his feelings get the better of him. "She's my sister." Cammie seemed pretty surprised. "Your sister?" she asked, looking at me. I know we didn't look alike at all. "In a way. She's not my blood sister, but she may as well be. We're close in the brother-sister way." He smiled and patted my head, and I playfully elbowed him. I tried not to do it too hard, since I didn't know my own strength anymore. "Oh, well anyways, my mom said she's ready to see you," Cammie said to me. "Okay,then. Bye guys!" I said as I left for the headmistress' office.

Before I could knock, I heard a voice call out, "Come in!" _Spies,_ I thought sarcastically, before turning the doorknob and walking inside. The headmistress sat alone in the office, her hands folded on the desk. "Please, have a seat." I sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk that she motioned to. "Would you mind answering a few questions for us?" she said as Abby walked out of the kitchen and sat in the chair next to me. She crossed her legs, swinging the leg on top, and putting her hand against her jaw with her elbow on the armrest. "So… Rachelle, how did you find Cammie at the convent? Hmm?" Abby asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning closer. "Umm…" I leaned away. I needed my personal space. "I had a dream and someone told me she was in the Alps. Then when I was in Switzerland a crazy dude said, 'They're coming for her,' and a bunch of crazy stuff. He said that she was in the Alps. Then these five men in black came and killed him. I just ran… I ran and I didn't help him. I could have saved him," I said, a sad look in my face. "I could have saved him," I whispered. I decided to tell them the truth. I couldn't lie to them, they were Cammie's family.

"If you saw them on the mountain and they didn't make it to the convent before you, they must have been taken out. Five bodies were found on the mountainside. Wolf attack. But we all know the chances of that is one in a million. There's only about twelve wolves in Switzerland, and they have enough livestock from the farms to live on. There were at least four wolves at the attack. Do you know anything about it?" Now I had to tell them, but there was a small chance they would believe me. To tell the truth, I didn't want to tell them, because then the CIA might get a hold of me and then... I didn't want to think of it. Life as a guinea pig. "Yes... I was there. I attacked them too," I said quietly. "But there were no signs of another person being there. Is there something else you're leaving out?" Ms. Morgan probed. I nodded. "But please, you can't tell _anyone_. I mean, Zach already knows and I might have to tell Cammie, but please," I begged. They seemed a bit confused as to why _Zach_ of all people would know first, but hey, he has a way of knowing things. Nodding for me to continue, I stood up slowly and began, "I was one of the wolves." There was a moment of silence, and then Abby began laughing. I knew it. Cammie's mom just looked at me as if I was crazy and said, "Abby..." and her sister eventually stopped laughing, all doubled over. "I'm sorry, it's just... how is that possible?" Abby asked, a smile on her face. I sighed. "I didn't expect you to believe me, that I'm a shapeshifter. I'm gonna show you. But can I lock the door so no one else can see?" The other Rachel nodded, still not believing me. Of course, I was just another psycho to them. I walked over to the door, locked it, and went to the most open space in the small room.

Shaking my hair back, I focused on the part of me that was wolf. It was one of my easiest forms to shift into, since I used it often. That and my peregrine. Fur sprouted on me and my body kept contorting until there was nothing human left. I looked at them with my warm amber eyes, seeing their gaping mouths. _Not so funny?_ I asked. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, if I'm in a form that couldn't talk out loud, which is in short every single form instead of a parrot. I can communicate mentally. Nothing fancy, just directing certain thoughts towards people. But Abby shook her head as if she was just believing things and asked her sister, "Rachel? Did you hear that too?" She nodded slowly. _Yes, I can talk to you mentally._ _May I change back now? _I asked when I heard a knock on the door. They both nodded slowly, as if they were still seeing things. I was used to it, the same thing happened with Zach, except with him, it had been a bit easier for him to accept his "sister" was a shapeshifter. I started to shift back as I was walking to the door, and by the time I had unlocked and opened it, I was fully human. Zach walked in, and to Rachel and Abby, who had by now regained their composure, said, "Cammie's going through the tests right now. I take it that Rachelle showed you her stuff?" He rested his arm on my head like he used to do, a long time ago. I could tell that the two adults were wondering how we knew each other. "I'm the long-lost sister," I said. "But I'm not related."

"So when we sign you up for the Academy, should I enter your name as Rachelle Goode? If you're fine with that, of course. Or do you know your real last name?" Ms. Morgan asked.

"I don't really use my real last name, it brings back too many bad... memories. I think Goode is goode." I smiled. "But can I still help Cammie? I have a feeling I'll be needed soon. And by the way, Catherine might have found out I'm alive." Zach tensed when he heard that.

"She's gonna try to take me again, now that she realizes I'll be useful to her. _If _she knows it's me. So anyways, which room will I stay in?" I have a habit of changing the topic when I think of a new one.

"Well, I've been thinking that the room with Cammie, Macey, Liz and Bex would be best but it's already full. There are no more rooms that are empty, since the guest rooms are full with some important guests and, well, they're only for guests. But the other problem is that Cammie and her friends are already seniors, and you'd be in..." she let me fill it in, since she wasn't sure whether or not I'd finished seventh grade. But I had started school early, so I was a freshman.

"I'm a freshman. Just started high school, but all my current school knows is that I'm in the hospital healing from a car crash. Which was actually a bird crash."

"Okay. Well I think you'll be fine in that room then. They can catch you up. But you'll have to start from the seventh grade classes, even though I'm sure that you'll catch up quickly to your current grade level," the headmistress explained.

"Thanks," I said, and then walked to the door, but stopped when she asked, "You don't have any clothes, do you? I know you don't have the uniform, so I'll see if I can get you one. I'm sure your new roommates will help. Your bed is already in there."

"Okay," I said, and waved to Zach before leaving the office. I apparently didn't have to wave, since he walked out right behind me and said, "And of course, I'll be showing you to your room." As we walked I randomly nudged him with my shoulder, and he nudged me back. Pretty soon we were having an all-out nudge-war while we were stil walking. Like we used to do when Catherine wasn't around. He grinned and I giggled, glad that my coming back after being "dead" for a couple years hadn't changed anything now. "Zachy has a girlfriend," I said in a singsongy voice when I remembered Cammie's reaction to us hugging in Joe's room. "Well I'm not gonna deny it... Seeing that her room is right there." He stopped and knocked three times, then opened the door when a girl called out "Come on in!" He let me walk in ahead of him and said, "Girls, this is Rachelle, Rachelle, this is Macey, Liz, Bex, and of course you know Cammie." I smiled and gave a small wave. "So you must be the new girl," a small blonde noted. "Yep," I said. "You're bed's right over there," she said brightly, hopping on her bed. "Yay! We get a new roommate! Like Zach said, I'm Liz," she said, extending her hand. I shook it kindly. "Bex is acting kinda tense right now, but not to you, don't worry," another girl said, Macey I think. Liz leaned towards me as she sat on the edge of her bed and me on mine. "So, what brings you here in the middle of the semester? How come you don't have any luggage?"

"Well, I didn't ever really need any luggage... I don't get too attached to things. And how I got here... I ran away from home. I heard of Gallagher from a friend, so I headed here." I'm a great liar, but this time I needed them to figure that out that I'm lying, otherwise I'd get on their bad side if they took it for the truth. And I also couldn't just flat out tell them the truth for my own reasons. Well, it worked, because just then Bex stalked over, put her hands on the foot of my bed, and leaned over, feeling her breath hit my face as she hissed, "Look, no one knows anything about you, so nobody knows whether you can be trusted. Tell. Us. The. Truth." I met her fiery gaze calmly and looked around the room. "Well then, you guys have to swear to not tell anybody else, and please try not to freak out," I said. They all nodded, and Bex stood back to lean on the wall. I stood up and took a deep breath. "So, Bex, what's your favorite animal?" I asked her. She looked at me as if how could that possibly relate to what I was going to show them but then said, "I don't really have a favorite, but I like grizzly bears."

"Hmm, I think they might be a bit big. How about a wolf?" I suggested.

"Okay, sure," she shrugged. "But wha does that have to do with anything?" she asked.

"You'll see," I smiled. Then I moved to the open space by the door, took a deep breath, and began to shift.

Liz shrieked, but then realizing that that was part of the "No Freaking Out" agreement, muttered, "Oopsy daisy." I stood before them in my wolf form, and trotted up to Cammie who had frozen in shock and put my front paws on her bed, meeting her eyes questioningly. That's when we heard the knock on the door and Bex immediately took action. "Rachelle, you hide under the bed," she said, and then Liz walked over to the door, opening it halfway. "Oh hey Zach, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Can I come in real quick? I need to give Rachelle something."

"Umm, how about later, we're a bit busy right now," Liz said a bit nervously. Since I knew it was Zach, I could smell him pretty easily, I crawled out from under the bed. _It's okay guys, Zach already knows. _They all seemed startled at hearing my voice in their head. I hadn't let my thought go to Zach though. Liz sighed in relief (because she was probably having trouble keeping him out) and said, "Come on in." Zach stepped inside and I trotted over to him. He patted my head and I huffed, then stood on my hind legs and put my front paws on his chest. _Woof, _I said mockingly, then dropped back to all fours and shifted back. "So what is it you need to give to me?" I asked. He grinned. "Your stuff from before you left." I put a surprised look on my face. "You still have all my junk?" I asked, wondering why. "I couldn't leave it all with her," said Zach, and her being Catherine, his mom. "Oh."

He dropped a small camo backpack onto my bed and I immediately opened it, rooting through the contents. "Whoa, my wolf tooth necklace from the Grand Canyon! I can't believe it's still here!" I exclaimed. "Here Zach, you can have it. I have enough wolf teeth anyways. It's sharp as a knife." I grinned and went back to sorting through the contents until I found something else. "Seriously, a KA-BAR? I never had one before..." I smiled evilly, trying to freak out my roommates. It didn't work, of course. But Bex, Liz, and Macey seemed confused as to why Zach was so fond of me. If I were them, I would think that- Oh God, are they really thinking that?

I groaned. _Now what?_ Well, let's just say I shouldn't have asked.


End file.
